News
Nelsonville business leaders ask that the City Council to stop fighting a planned change in government
By: David Forster
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Nelsonville business leaders are asking the City Council to stop its efforts to block the city’s transition to a new form of government.
The letter is referring to Issue 23, a ballot initiative passed by Nelsonville voters last year that called for a change in government.
Under the initiative, the city’s charter, which established its current form of government, would have been abolished at the end of this year.
Then on Jan. 1, the city would have reverted back to the form of government it had before the charter was adopted 30-plus years ago.
The biggest difference between the two forms of government is that under the charter, power is vested in the council, which hires a manager to run the administration. Under the previous government, known as a statutory government, power was split between the council and an elected mayor who ran the administration.
The City Council fought a long legal battle to keep Issue 23 off the ballot. After it passed, the council tried to get it overturned by putting its own issue on the ballot. When that failed, the council voted to repeal Issue 23 itself, saying it has the power to overturn citizen initiatives under the city charter.
Since that vote, the council has been tied up in legal actions over its decision.
The Chamber of Commerce addresses this in its letter:
“We are not taking a political position, as many of our Chamber members and business owners are of diverse political leanings,” the chamber’s board wrote. “But last November 70% of the electorate voted to restore the city to statutory government, and then in May 54% affirmed that vote. When the citizens have made their decision clear, it should proceed post haste and not get bogged down in expensive litigation that attempts to ignore the will of the voters.”
The council’s position is that Issue 23 lacked a detailed transition plan from one government to the next. Such a plan is not required by law, but council members argued that without one there would have been significant disruptions.
The chamber’s letter acknowledges this:
“We recognize that a change like this is unprecedented and will be challenging to implement,” the chamber’s board wrote. “But we believe that the people of Nelsonville have the ability to see this change through. To that end, we are also calling on all citizens of Nelsonville to do what they can to help see this process through.”
City Council President Cameron Peck issued a statement in response to the chamber’s letter:
“Given the large role the Nelsonville Chamber of Commerce played in the drafting and circulation of Issue 23, and the now-obvious flaws, we should focus on deciding whether we want to place a similar statute on the ballot via public petition—one that includes an appropriate transition plan—or whether to pursue a new Charter Commission to make the necessary amendments and give the people what they want.”
Peck said the chamber is “welcome to engage with the City to help fix the problems left by Issue 23.”
The repeal of Issue 23 was challenged by one of the candidates elected to office under the initiative in November. The judge dismissed the case and the candidate is deciding whether to appeal. But the dismissal was not based on the merits, meaning the judge did not explicitly say whether the repeal was valid.
Meanwhile, another case brought by a council member and other Nelsonville residents is asking a judge to strike the candidates who ran for office under Issue 23. The candidates who won their races have already been certified as the winners by the county elections board, but presumably this legal action is asking the judge to nullify that.
If there is no decision in that case before Jan. 1, the candidates elected to council and other offices under Issue 23 could try to claim their seats in the new year. And if they are blocked, they could take legal action.
The council’s position is there are no seats for them to take because there will be no transition to a statutory government next year given its repeal of Issue 23.